Headwear may be utilized to shield a wearer from environmental hazards, such as sunlight, debris, rain, etc. A wearer may also perform various activities while wearing headwear. During some conditions and/or activities, a wearer may stow eyewear, such as eyeglasses or sunglasses away temporarily. In order to allow quick retrieval of the stowed eyewear, some hats provide openings to accept earpieces of eyewear. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,671,885 (Viggiano) discloses slots in a side of a crown of a hat that allow for insertion of earpieces of eyewear. However, while performing activities, such as moving his/her head around or down, a wearer may easily dislodge eyewear stowed in such openings.
For example, the inventors have recognized some disadvantages with the eyewear retainers of Viggiano. In Viggiano, attempts to secure the eyewear are made by lining the openings with a hook and loop material. However, in order to provide the intended security, the wearer would continually adjust the openings by detaching opposing segments of the hook and loop material to one another to accept the eyewear, then reattaching opposing segments of the hook and loop material to one another around the earpieces of the eyewear. Furthermore, the hook and loop material itself does not have any adhesive quality with respect to the surface of the earpieces, but rather merely creates a smaller pocket for the earpieces. Further still, the large area of hook and loop material provided in the hat of Viggiano would create a dense region of additional material along the crown of the hat, affecting aesthetics, airflow, and flexibility/comfort of the hat.